An enlarged screen shot shows that while on the ground wrestling for possession of the ball, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate did not have a hand on the ball.Instead, his right arm was around Green Bay Packers safety M.D. Jennings upper body.Video shows that for a split second Tate had his right hand on the ball while the players were in the are, but that was about it.

A nation divided: The commish, a ref, and Golden Tate vs. everybody else

The nation is heated right now, but three people for some strange reason see things different.

Pretty much everybody outside of one replacement referee, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate, and NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell saw the final play of the Monday Night Football game the same way.

On the final play of a game that the Green Bay Packers led 12-7, Tate decided to take the game in his own hands, and he went to work.

While Tate was illegally shoving cornerback Sam Shields to the ground while the ball was in the air, which Tate was not flagged for an offensive pass interference, Packers safety M.D. Jennings was jumping up to intercept the pass.

With Shields out of the play, Tate was able to turn his attention to the ball, which had been caught by Jennings.Video showed Jennings pinning the ball to his chest with both hands.Tate simply touched the ball with his right hand for a split second as they fell to the ground.His left hand was grasping Jennings’ wrist.As the two came down to the ground, Tate’s right hand came off the ball, and then he wrapped his right arm around Jennings’ upper body when the two were on the ground.

At no point did Tate possess the ball.Simply getting one hand on the ball for a split second does not constitute possession.

The referee looks down at both of them, with Jennings possessing the ball and the viewing public waiting for the touchback signal because the ball was intercepted, he signals touchdown.

Wait…what?!?!

Touchdown?!?!Is the replacement referee serious?

So lets all get this straight, Tate gets credit for a catch, when he never caught or possessed the ball?The referee apparently ruled that it was a simultaneous catch, which goes to the offensive player.So all a receiver has to do is touch the ball that a defender is holding with both arms to get a simultaneous catch?

At no time did Tate possess the ball, so it was shocking to see the referee call it a touchdown.And Tate should think about a career in politics.After clearly cheating by shoving Shields to the ground, he pulls a fast one by getting a hand on a ball that he did not catch.

After the game Tate was asked if he pushed off, which should have been called offensive pass interference.His response:

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Wow.Deny, deny, deny!

Usually referees allow some pushing and shoving on a Hail Mary type pass, but players cannot totally disregard the rule, and neither should the referees.

Not surprisingly, the league, meaning Goodell, has come out and said that the call was right.He is either trying to save face because of all the heat that the league has taken for using replacement referees, who are blowing calls left and right, or he is telling the public that they are all dumb.

If there were ever a rallying cry to bring back the fulltime referees, this is it.And it looks like it has worked, because the real referees are on their way back.Before this game there has been a lot of bad calls, but it could be argued that the replacement referees did not change the outcome of any game.Well that argument has flown out of the window.

Not surprisingly, twitter blew up after the game.

T.J. Lang, Packers: (expletive) it NFL.. Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.

Jermichael Finley, Packers: Come on @NFL this (expletive) is getting out of Control. Caused us a DAMN game. Horrible!

Josh Sitton, Packers: That was (expletive). This is getting ridiculous! The NFL needs to get the refs back bfr we strike and they make no money! Golden tate is full of (expletive) too. Saying he clearly caught that is embarrassing! (expletive) jokers!

Frank Gore, 49ers: Who's worse? The dude who directed that anti-Mulim movie or Roger Goodell? I think old Roger!

LeRoy Butler, former Packer: I just emailed the commissioner to say I am embarrass to be a former nfl player, after that

Drew Brees, Saints: I love this league and love the game of football, but tonight’s debacle hurts me greatly. This is NOT the league we’re supposed to represent

Reggie Bush, Dolphins: These refs gotta go I'm sorry

Perrish Cox: Is the refs workin for the buffalo wild wings commercial?

Troy Aikman: These games are a joke.

Peter King: One of the great disgraces in NFL history.

There were more losers than the Packers.Sixty percent of sports bettors took the Packers by 3.5 points, and the Packers were up by five points heading into that final play.After the play the Packers were down by two, and everybody who took the Packers lost money. It was an estimated $150 million swing.

Vince Young goes broke while Alfred Morris saves his money

Hearing about out of work quarterback Vince Young’s spending habits, it is easy to see why he went broke after making $26 million.Accorded to a report from the website Outkick the Coverage, Young spent about $5,000 a week at chain restaurants.His favorites were T.G.I. Friday’s and The Cheese Cake Factory.

Apparently Young would cover the bill for teammates and friends, and it was pretty much an open bar for anybody in his party.

In 2007, Young bought out a Southwest flight that had 130 seats from Nashville to Houston.

After each game Young would order $600 shots of Louis XIII at a Morton’s Steakhouse.

There is really no telling what else Young spent money on, but seeing that he was throwing money around like that, he was probably buying more expensive items as well.Such as lavish houses and exotic cars.

Young was living in the moment, like the paychecks would never stop for the rest of his life.Well now he is out of work, and there are no paychecks for the time being.This story is like many other millionaire athletes, who are broke shortly after their careers end.

But there is one refreshing story.Washington Redskins rookie running back Alfred Morris signed a four-year deal worth $2,223,100, which included a $123,100 signing bonus.

Morris’ newfound wealth has not changed him one bit.While a junior at Florida Atlantic University, Morris purchased a 1991 Mazda 626, which has a blue book value of about $1,200.While his teammates with the Redskins are driving luxury and exotic cars, Morris is still driving his Mazda.

Morris is getting paid nice right now, but those checks could stop at any time.If he is piling up his money, unlike Young, then by the time his career ends in his late twenties or early thirties, he will be sitting on a nice sum of money to get him started into his next stage of life, which lasts much longer than his current stage of life.

NFC West looks good, AFC West doesn’t

Last year the only team out West that was any good was the San Francisco 49ers, and coming into this year it looked like it would be more of the same.Well the NFC West is looking like one of the best divisions in the league through three games, and they are doing it by playing tough defense, and the AFC West…still looks like the AFC West.Nothing much to see there.

Even with the 49ers loss at the Minnesota Vikings, they are still one of the best teams in the league.Even the best teams are going to go on the road and blow a couple games against sub par teams.It’s the NFL, and every game is tough.

The Arizona Cardinals are 3-0, with a win at New England, and this past week they beat Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick like a drum in a blowout victory.Through three games they have only given up 40 points, second fewest in the league.

The defense that has given up the least amount of points is the Seahawks, who are 2-1.Yes, they got over against the Packers, but do not forget that they held an offensive juggernaut to only 12 points in that game and only one touchdown (the Packers failed on atwo-point conversion late in the game.)

The Seahawks were able to chase Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers around while only rushing four defensive linemen, leading to eight sacks.Being able to pressure the quarterback while dropping seven players into pass coverage is huge for a defense, and it forces an offense to take receivers out of the patterns.Instead those receivers have to block.The Seahawks are able to drop seven defenders into pass coverage while covering less receivers, some times as few as three.

The Seahawks only loss of the season came against the Cardinals.

Over in the AFC West, the San Diego Chargers are 2-1 while everybody else is 1-2.After winning their first two games of the season against below average teams, the Chargers hosted the Atlanta Falcons, one of the best teams in the league, and the Chargers got the brakes beat off.That is a team that will not be going anywhere.

The Oakland Raiders looked like the worst team in the league through the first two games, but then they stepped up and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, so it is hard to get a read on them.

The Denver Broncos are struggling to move the ball with Peyton Manning, who does not attack downfield much anymore.The past two weeks the Broncos have fallen way behind, only to come back in the fourth quarter and lose.That team is just not impressive, even with a Hall of Fame quarterback.

There really is not much to talk about with the Kansas City Chiefs.Lucky for them they got to play the New Orleans Saints this past week, because that team is pretty much sunk at 0-3.With the worst defense in the league and their head coach suspended for the season, they can forget about turning around their season.

Back to the AFC West, last year there was a three-way tie for first place, with the Broncos ending up winning the division with an 8-8 record.It would not be shocking to see a similar record win the division again.